Our StoryA Human Voice in Tech

Offscreen celebrates the human side of technology and the web. As a slow, thoughtful counterbalance to the fast-paced, buzzword-heavy tech coverage, our magazine and newsletter explore innovative ideas through introspective writing and human stories. We ask critical questions about how we shape technology and how technology shapes us.

The face behind the interface

In an industry that prides itself on forming human connections, our world of apps and gadgets can sometimes feel pretty dehumanising. It’s easy to forget that every website we visit and every device we use are the result of a long creative struggle by real people. Offscreen offers a window into the lives and work of those people.

Through four long, intimate interviews in each issue, we critically examine today's role of technology and its potential for advancing us as a species. We look beyond the conventional definition of ‘success’ in the tech industry and put the spotlight on people, projects, and ideas that shape our vision of a better future.

Taking tech off the screen

As the name suggests, Offscreen is a magazine that explores what happens off the screen, outside the digital realm. We encourage you to put down your device, grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy a high-quality read the old-fashioned way. Reading it offline, in a distraction-free environment, allows us to step away from the fast-paced world of bits and pixels to reflect on our role within the web community and the impact we can have.

Offscreen is a counterbalance to the endless stream of buzzword-heavy tech coverage focusing on The Next Big Thing. We are a proponent of The Slow Web, the idea that not all that is instant and fast is necessarily good for us. Our editorial approach is guided by ethical and inclusive principles highlighting stories and ideas that put impact and purpose before growth and profit.

—Technology is neither good, nor bad. It’s up to us to establish a framework of rules and principles that further its only true purpose: to advance humanity.—

A one-man magazine

Originally a web designer, Kai Brach launched the first issue of Offscreen in early 2012. Weary of the fast pace and the ephemeral nature of digital, after ten years of pushing pixels as a freelancer Kai decided to create something more tangible. In the span of six months, Kai ‘converted’ from a UI designer to a print publisher, not only conducting and editing all interviews but also designing the magazine and building his own distribution network. Offscreen largely remains a one-man operation and a proudly independent magazine supported by readers, patrons, and sponsors.

Based in beautiful Melbourne, Australia, Kai hopes to reinvigorate printed magazines as a choice of media that provides a welcome break from our always-on lifestyle. With Offscreen he combines his love for technology and the web and the unique, mulitsensory experience of print.

Transparent and purpose driven

Born as an experiment by an industry ‘newbie’, Kai made his entire process of creating a new indie magazine public via his blog, always putting transparency first – whether it’s making difficult design and material decisions, finding a sustainable self-distribution model, working with contributors or replacing advertising with sponsors. Check our production page, browse the blog and read Kai’s extensive Indie Magonomics post to find out more about the making of Offscreen.

—Perhaps it’s time to start thinking about paper versus screens not as old versus new, but as different and complementary devices, each stimulating particular modes of thinking for particular times of our day.—